Disclaimers: I do not own anything in this story.

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday Baby: Now You’re Sweet Sixteen

In Diagon Alley, Draco ambulated aimlessly from one store to another in a quest for the perfect birthday present for HER. In the multitude of shops, the shelves displayed plenty of knick-knacks she would like, along with a plethora of objects too mundane for a girl of her status. But for her sixteenth birthday, he wanted to find Ginny the perfect present: something as special and precious as her. He saw a beautiful diamond brooch she would look spectacular in and money was no object, but it was too eccentric; and Quidditch gear, although useful, did not fit her feminine interests. Even his personal jeweler could not help him. The jeweler had many pieces in green and silver, which would look heavenly on Ginny, but they were all not at all her style. Some pieces were too gaudy while others were too plain. His last destination was the engraving store next to the ice cream parlor called "Memories of Silver," but yet again, he left the store in vain and frustrated, so frustrated that he did not see his arch nemesis, Harry Potter, entering the store.

Harry had the same agenda as Draco: to find the perfect birthday present for Ginny, who had been his girlfriend from last term. However, unlike Draco, he did not procrastinate. The salesperson at the counter greeted him warmly and passed a medium sized blood-red pouch over to Harry. The ebony-haired boy needed to make one last stop to make his flawless present complete, the photo shop in Muggle London. He hoped they got the size perfect. He passed through "The Leaky Cauldron" and made his way into the photo shop. A feeling of nostalgia washed over him as he saw the picture: It was Ginny and he sitting on the Weasleys’ porch swing last summer. It was before he made the biggest mistake of his life, back when she still had a “silly little crush” on him, and he thought of her as nothing more than a little sister.

As Harry left the store, on the other side of London, Draco retired home present-less and idea-less. Walking through the vestibule of Malfoy Manor, he accidentally heard his parents talking.

“Lucius, I’m talking seriously. We are not getting any younger, and Draco is rapidly approaching maturity. We should leave the Italian villa to him rather than selling it. We have no need for the money anyways, and giving it to Draco would keep it in the family.”

“I suppose you’re right as usual, ‘Cissa. He has shown a great deal of responsibility lately, and it would make a splendid early back-to-school present for him.”

Having heard his name and the word present all in the same phrase, Draco came running at top speed toward the den, where his parents were lounging.

“Hello Mother, Father,” Draco greeted his parents. “How are you two?”

“Hello, sweetheart,” Narcissa said with a smile, letting Draco kiss her on the cheek. “We are well but there is something very important we must talk to you about.”

“The Ministry has been giving us a bit of trouble about our assets,” Lucius interjected. “So we thought it prudent to divide up our property, so they cannot gain total control over what rightfully belongs to the Malfoys’. Therefore, in honor of you returning to Hogwarts for your seventh year, we have decided to give you the Italian villa in Sicily.”

“Thank you, Father,” Draco burst out. Lucius backed away when it seemed as if Draco was about to hug him, but Narcissa welcomed her son’s excited but brief embrace. It was brief because he had finally gotten his idea for Ginny’s present: a summer vacation to the Italian villa, just the two of them. It was perfect!

As Draco retired to his bedroom, Harry returned to his home away from his real home, the Burrow. Walking towards the threshold of the Weasley domicile, the smell of cinnamon pleasured his nose, making it twitch in anticipation of the delicious apple pie he knew Mrs. Weasley had made for dinner. The sound of children laughing rushed over him as well. Harry sighed. "This is the home I was meant to have," he thought to himself. Once inside, he quickly moved to the room he shared with his best friend Ron and started to assemble Ginny’s present. He removed the gilded frame from the blood red velvet bag and positioned the picture in the frame. She looked angelic in his arms, almost as if that was where she belonged. He replaced the frame in its bag and thought silently, "If this doesn’t win her back, nothing will."

“Mum, have you seen my jumper?” called a panicked Ginny. Today was her sixteenth birthday, Fred and George would arrive home any minute to surprise her, and she still was not dressed.

“It’s in the wardrobe, dear,” Mrs. Weasley answered her alarmed daughter in a calm voice. “Relax, sweetie, will you? You’re making me nervous! Oh, and don’t forget, Draco is stopping by the house for dinner tonight.”

A look of dread washed over Ginny’s face. She forgot about her boyfriend coming to visit her. At that moment, the jumper became the least of her concerns. Now she needed to not only watch out for her brothers’ tricks but also looking nice for her boyfriend and making sure the boys played nice. After fifteen minutes of staring at her wardrobe, she finally settled on a flowing, forest-green tunic paired with her fitted black silk skirt. She was a vision in green. And then the doorbell rang.

Spurred on by the doorbell, Ginny ran down the stairs to meet her first guest. In her haste, she clumsily ran into Harry. She quickly muttered an apology and continued to the front door to find none other than her lovable twin brothers, Fred and George, both carrying boxes that she easily could fit into and still have room to move in. She directed them into the house and instructed them to leave their presents on the table by the fireplace. On it were already a blood-red velvet pouch, a green box, and a clumsily-wrapped lump in brown paper. Just as she went to investigate these other presents, her older brothers, Bill and Charlie appeared on the Floo. She jumped as they called, “Uh uh, lil sis! No snooping. You, like everyone else, must wait for everyone to arrive and for the famous Molly Weasley cake to be eaten before opening your gifts. Sorry we can’t be there, but our presents should be arriving soon.”

“Thanks Bill, Charlie,” Ginny told them with a smile, kneeling down in front of the fireplace to see them better. “But you know you didn’t have to get me anything. I’m just happy to see you two in one piece.” The doorbell rang again. “That’s my cue to go,” Ginny told them. “I’d hug you, but I might get burnt, so I’ll settle for blowing a kiss.” She did just that to both of them, then flew toward the door.

Ginny opened it to find her beloved Draco standing there. He was a sight for sore eyes in his hooded sweatshirt and jeans. But he made her feel very overdressed. She was obviously gaping at him, because as he kissed her on the cheek she thought she heard him say something about fish out of water not opening their mouth that far. Taking Ginny’s hand, Draco walked though the living room and placed his present next to the others. It was just a small white envelope with nothing written on it, sealed with the Malfoy crest on the back in green wax. She was intrigued.

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Ginevra! Happy birthday to you!” A chorus of Weasleys suddenly appeared from the kitchen, Molly leading them as they all sang their lungs out.

Some minutes later, after receiving lots of hugs and congrats, Ginny managed to get a word in among the busy chatter and well wishes of her family. “Thank you everyone,” she told them with a warm smile that broadened as she cut the cake. It was her favorite: rich chocolate cake the color of her eyes, and vanilla frosting almost the color of her alabaster skin. She was obviously not the only one who enjoyed it, because in five minutes, the entire cake was gone.

The cake having been eaten, Ginny hurried over to her presents, and grabbed for the brown lump first. It was from her brother Ron, and inside was the new Firebolt 5000, thee broom of choice for International-Standard Chasers. She was on the brink of tears of joy at this sight. After thanking her brother multiple times, Ginny grabbed for the small green box from her parents. Inside it was a Celtic locket with her name written in calligraphy on the front. But when she tried to open it, the delicate piece stayed firmly shut. Seeing Ginny’s confusion, her parents told her it was enchanted to open only once her heart’s desire had been met, thus fulfilling the picture inside. She fastened the locket around her neck and then reached for the blood-red pouch. There was no tag, but the abundance of Gryffindor colors gave it away instantly. She opened Harry’s present slowly, not wanting to ruin the moment. To her surprise, inside she found a Muggle photograph of her and Harry sitting on the porch swing together. The photo was in a golden frame engraved with the phrase “What a grand thing, to be loved! What a grander thing, to love.” Flushing as red as the bag, Ginny mumbled a quick thanks and moved on to her twin brothers’ gifts. She opened the box from Fred and inside found one dozen white roses. She picked them up and was about to thank him when they turned blue. When this confused her, they turned purple.

“Gin, they’re mood roses. The colors change to reflect whatever mood you’re in, and they never die,” Fred explained.

“Wow, Fred, thanks,” Ginny murmured, kissing his cheek. “Did you invent them?” Fred nodded. George cleared his throat. “Okay, George helped, too,” Fred admitted. Ginny gave George a peck, too, as she picked up his gift. She had been looking forward to opening it, knowing he was the creative one. She ripped though the paper to find a box. She opened the box to find another wrapped box. After opening that box, she found yet another wrapped box. It went on this way until she went from a one-meter-by-one-meter box to a two-centimeter-by-two-centimeter box, and she went from excited to frustrated. She opened this box and finally found her present, a small silver ring with a dragon on it, her favorite animal. She thought this seemed all too normal to be from George, until she saw the dragon move.

Now there was only one present left, Draco’s, Ginny slowly reached for it to linger in the moment. She opened the small envelope to find a hand scrawled note, which read,

Dearest Ginny,

You are cordially invited to spend the rest of summer break with me on the beaches of Sicily in the prestigious Malfoy villa. I shall expect a RSVP by the end of the evening. If you accept, be ready to leave tomorrow morning.

Yours always, Draco

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2: Escaping to Paradise

Like a little child on Christmas morning, I tore through all my presents. But then, I opened Draco’s and then I almost cried. It didn’t matter what everyone else had gotten me, as nice as everything else was. All I cared about was that Draco did really care and he wasn’t dating me just to get at Harry. It took a while but I finally convinced my mum and dad to allow me to go with Draco to Sicily for the rest of summer holiday. Well maybe a little more than that. It was after Draco left from my birthday party and…


“But mum, I’m sixteen! It’s not like I’m gonna have sex with him! We are just gonna go there and relax before his last year and my sixth! Please!” Ginny begged. Molly had spent years trying to build up an immunity to that puppy dog pout face. But all those years went to waste as she started to cave into her only daughter.

“Well… I’ll have to talk to your father and we’ll discuss it and take into consideration your feelings,” Molly reasoned. She wondered to herself if she had a backbone. Seeing her sixteen year-old daughter begging and pleading to be with her boyfriend reminded her of those years spent trying to convince her own parents that Arthur was suitable for her. Ah, those were the days, she thought. She finished helping Ginny clean off the table in dead silence. If a pin had dropped, it would sound like a gunshot. That silence was finally broken after what seemed like a decade by Ron.

“Mum, is there any more cake? I’m still hungry,” Ron asked.

“Sorry, Ron. But there is some chicken leftover on the counter,” suggested Molly.

Ginny was tired and decided to turn in early and go to bed. She took off her heels and sighed, It feels so good to have these off. She started changing into her nightgown when she heard a pop. There she was, practically naked, and someone just Apparated into her room. She went to turn to see who it was when whoever it was wrapped their arms around her.

“Get dressed,” said a familiar, husky, male voice. “We are leaving tonight, whether your parents agree or not.” It was so hard for him not to order her to get dressed, but he knew her parents would never approve. She appeared out of her bathroom in a silky black dress and he almost said that was surely as good as before, but he held his tongue. She was just about ready to Apparate out of her room with him when she thought she should leave a note for her family. She quickly scribbled it telling her family not to worry; that she’d be ok. After she threw the note on her bed, she hugged Draco and they were out of there. There was a quick flash of white light followed by a long tunnel of multicolored lights. Suddenly, the sound of the ocean filled her ears, the smell of salt made its way to her nose, waves washed over her feet, and the warmth of Draco around her made her feel that is where she belonged.

“Welcome to Malfoy villa on the coast of Sicily,” said Draco as he introduced Ginny to the island. He led her up to the house and showed her to her room. The path up to the room was covered with lavish tapestries, coats-of-arms, and immense, hand-painted pictures of people she could only assume were his relatives.

“Just follow the steps,” he instructed. “Your room is the first on the right.” With Draco’s instructions in mind, she began her long assent up the tower. As she climbed higher, the staircase became narrower and darker, with the only light coming from the small windows. It was light enough that she could see the step in front of her, but dark enough that she could not tell where the stairs ended. After what seemed like a few hours, she finally made it to the top of the tower and into her room. It was decorated in lush, voluptuous pillows in many shades of green, soft as a kitten’s fur carpeting in pure white, and a massive mirror that not only reflected her image but also diffracted rays of light to make little rainbows. As she walked further into her room, she saw the most wonderful bay window in the world. Connected to the window was a quaint sofa covered in down pillows and upholstered in velvet. As wonderful as the window seat was, Ginny realized there was another thing that made it much better: the view. It was nothing compared to any part of England. As Ginny’s eyes grazed the coastline, full shrubbery, rocky plains, and a deep cerulean colored ocean imprinted themselves into her subconscious. It was the most perfect sight she had ever seen.

Overwhelmed with the beautiful sight, she decided to take a nice, long, hot bath. She drew the bath and quickly changed into her robe to wait for the green marble tub to fill. Just when it seemed the frothy bubbles were going to overflow, she turned the water off and sank down into the foamy water. Time past slowly as her aches left her body, all her worries left her brain, and her conscience escape into the water.

From the tub, she watched the sunset far below the horizon and knew she had soaked long enough: She guessed four hours. But it felt so nice that she told herself five more minutes. Just as she said that, all the lights went out.